Operation Emerald Arrogance
by refallen
Summary: A Lily James fic. It begins in 6th year. Sirius, Remus, and some other people at Hogwarts try to help out this relationship or lack thereof. They all need to know: Will Lily Evans ever go out with James Potter?
1. Chapter 1

I don't own JK Rowling's Harry Potter, but I own this fanfiction. ;-)

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**Chapter 1: Introducing Mr. Potter, The Toerag**

Sirius Black sat on the floor as he waited in silence, anticipating his opponent's next more. He hoped that James Potter would finally meet his long-awaited defeat.

Across from Sirius, James was looking for opportunities to be successful, but his targets were not easy to reach. Taking his time, with the satisfaction of knowing that Sirius was becoming increasingly tense, he looked at his choices from every angle. Finally, he found the perfect position: left-center.

He proceeded to take his card and place it on the top of the left center tower. This was one of the many towers in a massive castle that James and Sirius were building. Unfortunately, this castle was made of Exploding Snap cards. One wrong move could result in a loud, smoky, and usually fiery explosion of the cards. Still, James not lost a match to Sirius yet. He was determined to keep it this way.

The two 16 year-old boys were sitting in Gryffindor Common Room beside the warm, blazing fireplace. In a comfortable armchair beside them, Remus Lupin, a shy and quiet 6th year whom Sirius and James were best friends with was reading a book. Not far from them sat Peter Pettigrew, a smaller, rounder boy who was also their friend. He was at a desk, playing close attention to some assignment or another. A few other students were sitting in the Common Room, but it was still quiet.

James smirked as he looked confidently at Sirius, who glanced back stonily. James slowly placed his card on the top of the tower. He paused for a second and then slowly drew back. He held his breath and waited, but there was no explosion yet. James let out a sigh of relief.

The portrait door opened as Lily Evans and a few of her close friends climbed gracefully through the hole, chatting quietly. A few people looked to see who came in. Lily, who was very popular, usually caused many heads to turn when she walked into a room. James' stomach did a flip-flop and instinctively, he jerkily raised his hand so he could muss up his hair. (He knew all too well that the usual messiness of his hair was a quality that received a lot of attention, especially from girls in the school. The messier his hair was, the better looking he was; being a slightly vain 16 year-old, James figured that the more handsome he was around Evans, the better. _Perhaps she would notice_.)

BOOM. Just as Lily and her girlfriends walked by, James knocked right into the castle of Exploding Snap cards when he reached for his hair.

Sirius jumped back just in time and cried, "Aha! I win, finally!" He pointed at James cheerfully, grinning from ear to ear.

James was coughing up smoke as he simultaneously tried to feel if his eyebrows were still intact and look at Lily. There was absolutely no need to look cool, though. Lily's friends had all screamed run away from the explosion, and she was walking away from the explosion with a scowl on her face.

She turned to James, now blowing the smoke out of her hair with her hand, and said coldly, "Thanks, Potter. Thanks a lot!"

James, however, was distracted by the hem of her robes. Unbeknownst to her, they were on fire. "Evans, your robes!" he yelped.

At once, startled at the growing fire on her robes. Quickly she put it out with her wand before James decided to play "hero" and help her. Muttering to herself, once her scorched robes were doused with water, she walked away.

"Hey, Evans!" James called out to her, in spite of himself.

Lily turned around, glared, and raised a questioning eyebrow. She asked icily, "Yes?"

James grinned. "You're welcome."

Lily narrowed her eyes. "And what precisely should I be welcome for?"

James shrugged casually walking up to her. "Oh it's nothing. I mean, just now, who knows how much damage there could have been if I hadn't warned you about the fire?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Yes, you know, because I wouldn't recognize the bright flames of fire that were about to envelope my body if you hadn't warned me. _I'm just so lucky that you save the day_."

James, deciding to ignore the sarcasm, nodded fervently.

Lily burst out, "You arrogant berk, it was your fault in the first place! My robes would have been perfectly fine if you hadn't been so concerned about that hair of yours." (James turned bright red at this comment, but stared determinedly at her, grinning.) "You're unbelievable, Potter!" She turned away and stormed up to the girl's dormitories.

James, not looking put off half as much as he should have, called after her. "So you mean unbelievable in a good way, right?"

A door slammed shut in response. James sighed and turned to his friends. "She must be having a bad day or something." Peter didn't even hear him. Many of the spectators in the Common Room looked away rather quickly. Sirius raised his eyebrows in disbelief almost like Lily, but he was grinning. Remus said nothing and returned to his book with a slight frown on his face.

James sat down beside Sirius. "Padfoot, she'll eventually go out with me, right? I'm not that bad, don't you think? I mean, to be quite honest, I'm actually sort of…nice, no?" He said this with complete confidence.

Sirius, was busy bullying a second-year, trying to convince him that eating one of the remaining Exploding Snap cards was virtually harmless, turned to face James. He rolled his eyes while saying, "Sure Prongs, you'll go out with Evans. When Snivellus isn't a greasy-haired prat anymore…"

James glowered at Sirius.

Sirius continued, "Kidding, mate. Only kidding, ok? But, to be quite honest, she doesn't seem to by too taken with you, does she? I guess, you'll just have to give it some time, all right?"

James folded his arms and nodded gravely in response. "I don't know what her problem is!"

Sirius looked at his best mate sympathetically. "Give it a rest for tonight, mate. Go to bed. Get some sleep."

James, who looked extremely frustrated, replied, "Yeah, I think I will. Night, Padfoot. Moony. Wormtail."

Remus and Sirius returned his "good night", but Wormtail was still deep on concentration, looking over the parchment in his hands. James shuffled off to bed.

He didn't sleep very quickly. He didn't understand why Evans didn't like him. And he found her completely insane for refusing to go out with him. _Ah well_, he thought to himself, _she can't resist the Potter Charm forever…_

Hello, everyone who has read Chapter 1 in **Operation Emerald Arrogance. **If you liked this chapter, great. If you found it to be typical of a Lily-James fic, _lo siento mis amigos_.Anyway, I plan to do a lot with this fic. But I can't promise that it will be anytime soon. Usually, I'm too hasty in writing. So this time, I'm writing this on my terms. As Mrs. JK Rowling says, "You have to please yourself before you please anyone else." So that's my point. I'm going to take my time, writing this, whether it takes me 5 months or5 years.I am determined to finish this, which is a very big task for me. So here's Chapter 1. I hope you like it, and there's more to come, I promise. I just don't know when. Thank you, Refallen.


	2. Chess At Dawn

I don't own JK Rowling's Harry Potter, but I own this fanfiction. ;-)

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**Chapter 2: Chess at Dawn**

Remus was seeing the enormous orb of light that he usually haunted his deepest dreams. It wasn't very exciting, but the dream still wouldn't go away. The full moon hung in the dark clouds and Remus could only hear the wind whistle as the clouds moved to cover and uncover the moon. The light of the moon touched the trees below it. It was eerie, yet it was peaceful. Remus figured that this dream was just one of the many results of becoming a werewolf, where instead of having dreams of being Quidditch stars or of girls, he'd just stare at the moon all night. It seemed like he was waiting for something to happen or for some sort of answer.

Lost in his subconscious, Remus felt something whack across his face. Could the moon be this violent? And again, something smashed on his face. Then his stomach, then his chest.

"Arghh!" Remus yelled, trying to shove Sirius and his enormous _Pillow-of-Death_ away from his face. "What in the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" Rubbing his nose, which was throbbing painfully, he sat up and glared menacingly at Sirius.

Sirius just smiled devilishly and said, "Wakey, wakey!"

Remus decided to simply ignore his friend, no matter how _dogged _and relentless Sirius was. He rolled over and lay back down on his bed, murmuring, "Go to bed. Leave me alone. It's still dark outside."

Sirius replied, "It's 5 am Moony. It's the morning. Come on, now, get up!"

Remus closed his eyes and pretended to snore. He heard Sirius sigh, and say, "Well, I'm off then."

Remus grunted. A few minutes passed by and he suddenly felt weightless. He turned around, expecting to see his bed curtain pulled back in place by Sirius – but instead, he saw the door to his dormitory right next to his face! Remus' heart skipped a beat as he realized that he was floating four feet in the air!

Still clutching his pillow, Remus called out, "Padfoot! What the – "

From the foot of the stairs in the Common Room, Sirius said brightly, "Well, you didn't seem to want to get up and walk down with me, did you? So, I decided to help you down to the Common Room myself."

"So you decided to _Wingardium Leviosa_ me down!"

Sirius nodded cheerily. He slowly let Remus down with his wand. When Remus was back on his feet, Sirius told him proudly, "It's a very complex spell, the floating charm, when using it on humans." Remus gave Sirius a deathly glare. Ignoring this, Sirius added happily, "Fancy a game of chess?"

"It's Five. In. The. Morning."

"Mmmhmm." Sirius said annoyingly, sounding like Remus's own mother when she tried to comfort him.

"Is this game of chess very important? Extremely important? So important that I have to sacrifice my sleep for it?"

Sirius nodded gravely. "Yes, Moony. I really think it is." Remus looked at him incredulously. "I actually wanted to speak to you about Prongs."

Remus said, "Well, wake _him _up if you're so concerned about him!"

Sirius ignored him as he set up a chessboard on a small table near the fireplace arranged two chairs for them to sit on. He gestured for Remus to seat himself. Grudgingly, Remus did so, and Sirius sat down across form him. "You first," he told Moony.

Moony, finally accepting that she wasn't going to get anymore sleep this morning, stared contemplatively at the chess board. He made his first move. "So what's wrong with Prongs?"

Sirius sighed. "Evans."

"Her name is Lily. L-I-L-Y."

Impatiently, Sirius said, "All right. It's about Lily. The thing is, I think our dear Prongs really likes her."

"You think?" Remus asked, sarcastically.

Sirius glowered, and said, "You seem to be in a rather bad mood, Moony, old pal." He grinned menacingly and whispered, "_Is it that time of the month_?"

Remus glared at Sirius, blushing slightly. The implications of that question were far more than he could stand, but he decided to make the best use of it. He grimaced and trying to look very upset about it, he answered, "Yeah…actually it is."

Sirius felt his stomach drop. He knew this was a very hard time for Remus, both emotionally and physically. Guiltily he said, "Sorry, made. That was below the belt…"

Remus smiled. "Nah, it's not. It gives a nice decoy. Between James' use of the phrase 'Furry Little Problem' and your use of vocabulary, people can only think two things are strange about me: One, that I have a deranged pet rabbit. Or two, that I'm a cross dresser who still has the..er...physique of a woman. I should actually thank you two."

Sirius laughed. "Ok, back to Ev- I mean, Lily. She just won't go out with him. She blatantly refuses."

"Well, look at James. He's my best friend, yes. But he does seem to go about winning her affections in the wrong way."

"..And I, for one, think that it's time for us to take action."

Remus stopped, his pawn in midair. "What?"

"I'm serious!" (Remus simply snorted at that comment.) Sirius went on, "I've decided that it's up to me and you to get Lily to go out with James. I'm tired of James sulking when she refuses to go out with him, and then pretending not to sulk, and then -"

"- snapping at us if we ask him why he's sulking, which he supposedly never does," Remus finished.

"Exactly!"

Remus waited for a moment and then said, "Sirius. Let them be."

"No way! We need to help Prongs!"

"No," Remus said firmly. "We need to leave them alone. If they're willing, they'll work it out."

As Sirius's knight smothered Remus' pawn into dust, Sirius whined, "No we won't just stand there and let them work out their own problems!"

"I'm not interfering!"

"But I've already made plans and everything!"

"Padfoot, I can't emphasize how important it is to just leave them alone." Remus stopped at look at his friend in awe, realizing what he had just said. "You've _already_ made plans?"

Sirius shrugged. "Well, yeah. Of course! I just wanted to see if you wanted to help. I was going to wake up Wormtail, too, but seeing as both James and Peter can sleep through just about anything, I figured that it wasn't worth it to try and wake Peter up. I was just wondering how you'd like to help. I want your input, you know."

"My input is to stay out. Lily has always been nice to me, and I don't want to do anything to get on her bad side. We're both Gryffindor Prefects and I spend a lot of time with her." (Sirius yelled "Perfect!" but Remus ignored him.) "She seems to severely dislike Prongs so far. I don't want her to also dislike me just because I tried to get her and James together. If he likes her badly enough, he'll make it so she can't refuse him."

Sirius smiled. "I don't think she _hates_ him. I still think we need to help them along, though. What do you think I'm going to do? Prank Lily so much that she'll be sure to hate James forever."

Remus smiled, in spite of himself. "No. I'm afraid that whatever you do, no matter how good your intentions are, it will backfire."

Sirius sniffed. "You underestimate me."

"Me? Underestimate the great Sirius Black? No, I think not. I think I know exactly what you are capable of and what your intentions are. But, in this case, I think the situation will be better without anyone trying to interfere."

Sirius snorted. "Not very likely. I mean, look at him. He's my best mate, there's no denying that. He's a great guy and everything, but the bloke makes a fool of himself every time Lily Evans is in a 1 mile radius."

Remus chuckled. "Checkmate." Sirius cursed. "I'd let him make of fool of himself, Sirius."

"But –" Sirius couldn't even finish his sentence. Remus had already gotten up and walked out of the portrait hole. Sirius figured that he was going to the Prefect Bathroom to take a shower. Sirius checked his watch. It was 6:15 AM. The first rays of the sun were streaming through the window in the Common Room.

Feeling a bit put-out by his friend's refusal to help him. He decided to ignore Moony's good advice, as he himself stomped up to the Gryffindor bathroom to shower. _Moony be damned, _he thought, _I'll just do this on my own._


	3. Purple Slime & Obnoxious Singing

I don't own JK Rowling's Harry Potter, but I own this fanfiction. ;-)

**Chapter 3: Purple Acid & Obnoxious Singing**

The sixth years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were already settled into their new lessons, in which there were longer lectures and a considerable amount of homework, aimed to help them achieve the top grades in their NEWT's. They were definitely used to the ancient castle and its going-on. By late October, the sixth years were quite comfortable with life at Hogwarts. By then, they had come to terms with that fact that less time in class did not mean that they had less work. In fact, they had gotten used to handling the large amounts of homework.

Lily Evans was one of those girls who'd manage to spend her free time both studying to maintain her top grades and chatting with her friends, forgetting schoolwork. Sure, it was a lot more work than fun on some days, but she took it all in stride. She also had Prefect duties to consider, but her time at Hogwarts was always fun.

One rather chilly day just before Halloween, she was walking up from Advanced Potions when she heard a commotion from a far, unused corridor of the dungeons. She walked toward the end where it was brightly lit. Frenzied whispers were reverberating throughout the walls of the hallway. Finally, Lily stepped into the light and gasped. For a second, she was too shocked to speak.

James Potter had been pointing his wand threateningly in the direction of what seemed to be a very large Hufflepuff third-year. The brown-haired boy already had what seemed to be a bloody nose, but purple, acrid slime had replaced the blood. The purple slime was smoking a little bit and it was giving off a revolting smell. "Just give me the money or it'll be your eyes streaming purple, next, Margate!"

The boy, who was on the verge of tears, now looked desperately at Lily, whom James still hadn't noticed was there. Finally, Lily yelled shrilly, "Potter!"

James turned with his mouth open. Upon seeing her, he automatically ran his hand through his hand. Grinning, he said with a deep, obviously fake voice, "Evans, what a pleasant surprise!"

Feeling anger rise in the pit of her stomach, she cried, "James Potter! What do you think you're doing?"

James smirked as he looked at the boy in a sinister way. "Margate and I were just have a friendly conversation about, er, business. Weren't we, Margate?" The boy looked as if he might cry.

Lily was enraged. "And your idea of a friendly conversation is to threaten someone with a curse! Look at what you've done to his nose." She pointed to the bleary eyed third year. The bottom half of his face was absolutely covered in the steadily streaming purple slime. Lily could actually hear the sizzle of the acidic slime as it was slowly burning the boy's face. She looked at him sympathetically. "Here. Take this to Madam Pomfrey _immediately."_ With a wave of her wand she conjured a small piece of parchment and a quill that already seemed full of ink. She wrote a hasty note on the parchment and handed it to the boy.

Margate didn't seem to think twice about taking the note from Lily. He ran out of the corridor to get away from James.

Lily spat at James, "Do you have any _reasonable_ excuse for this. Potter?"

James shrugged and said pompously, "Margate owed me a few galleons. I _had_ to get through to him somehow."

Lily stomped her foot. "And you think that cursing them is a way to solve that?"

James shrugged again and replied, "A wizard's got to do what a wizard's got to do."

Lily now looked dangerous. She said vehemently, "I see no wizard here. Just a pompous prat who thinks he's too good for the rules or even decent behavior!"

James grinned, "Awe, you don't mean that!"

Lily yelled, "Oh, yes I do!"

"Come on, Evans. You had to have though my curse was pretty impressive."

Lily's face turned as red as her hair. "What?"

James nodded, "Yes, yes, that was all me. My own creation, you see. I was having trouble finding a curse that would truly impress on to others how serious I was about paying debts. I know some rather special people here at Hogwarts who seem to forget that all too often! I had to make sure that they got the message, you know." He added haughtily, "If you want, maybe I could teach you my Acid-Slime Curse."

Lily replied in a very ice tone, "No thank you Potter. I'd rather have tea with the entire Slytherin House than learn one of your stupid spells! You must think you're really great! Really original, too!" Before James could agree, Lily declared, "20 points from Gryffindor. And if I see purple acid anywhere in this school, I'll go straight to Dumbledore. Goodbye!"

She walked away quickly leaving James open-mouthed in defiant shock.

Lily spent the rest of the day, still angry about her encounter with Potter. She kept quiet about the incident, even though it was bothering her. By dinner, she felt that the worst of the anger had worn out as she walked with her friend Alice into the Great Hall.

"Do you think that we'll need to make Patronus on our NEWT's next year?" Alice asked her.

Lily smiled ruefully. "I definitely think so, Alice. They're probably going to be very important, and if you want to be an Auror, you'll have to be pretty good at it."

Alice frowned. "Well, I guess we could, you know, practice occasionally in one of the empty classrooms in school every once in a while. I know that we've already practiced them in Defense Against the Dark Arts, but I still think that my Patronus isn't up to par. We could practice all the complex spells every once in a while until we get them down." She and Lily seat themselves across from each other at the center of the long, wooden Gryffindor table.

Lily exclaimed, "That's an excellent idea, Alice! This way, we won't have to worry about getting the spells down at the last minute!"

Alice smiled gratefully, as she began eating her dinner of mashed potatoes and steak. Lily began dinner, too. After dessert, Alice decided to stay and chat for a little bit for they went up to the Common Room. Someone walked up to Alice and politely tapped her on the shoulder. Frank Longbottom was fairly short for a 16-year old. He had short, dirty blond hair, a very prominent chin and warm blue yes.

Alice turned around and instantly her round pale cheeks reddened upon seeing him. But instead of acting shy, she smiled and said cheerily, "Hello, Frank!" Clearly, she was very pleased that he had come over to talk to her. Lily looked like she was very interested in her Charms notebook all of a sudden.

Frank asked, "How have you been lately?"

Alice answered, "Oh I've been fine. Classes have been so much harder this year, don't you think? Lily and I were just discussing how we should practice spells on our own together in an empty classroom every week of so. That way, we won't panic so much next year when our Practical NEWT's come along."

Impressed, Frank nodded. "That's a very good idea!"

Alice blushed. "So what have you been up to lately?"

Frank shrugged dramatically and answered, "Well, in between these large amounts of homework, I finally managed to get myself into something that I've been expecting for the past six years."

This time, Lily looked up curiously. Alice raised her eyebrows and asked, "What?"

Frank held back a chuckle and said, "I've got a detention with Sirius Black and James Potter tomorrow night!"

Lily's fists clenched and she scowled.

Alice shook her head, though she didn't look half as upset about it as Lily did. Frank went on quickly. "It wasn't really my fault," he said to both girls. (There was a quick exchange of skeptical glances between Lily and Alice at that comment.) "It's just that that Slytherin bloke, Wilkes, started yelling at this wee little first-year girl for being Muggle-born. And, you know, he didn't exactly call her that. He used a rather rude words with her. He was yelling awful things and his friends were all laughing and jeering. So there you go. Black, Potter, and I sort of just lost our tempers. Wilkes is in the Hospital Wing now. The poor girl was still hysterical, even ten minutes after McGonagall came and sorted things out and assigned us detentions. She was a Ravenclaw, I think. I think her name was Nena Abassi."

The gazes on Lily and Alice were a bit softened now. Lily said quietly, "I know where you're coming from, Frank, but you didn't have to hex Wilkes you know." Alice nodded, agreeing.

Frank smiled. "I can't say I was completely right, but I don't regret it. That girl needed help and Wilkes wasn't going to go away just because we told him so. And who knows what he could have done to her if we had gone off to get a teacher? I think it was ok to hex him in that situation." Look at the expressions on the two girls' faces, he said, "Let's just agree to disagree, ok?"

Lily shrugged. Alice changed the subject. "Anything else new, Frank?"

Frank shuffled his feet. Look at the hem of his robes, he asked, "Well, I was wondering if you'd come with me to Hogsmeade on Halloween." He looked up, grinning widely. "I promise I won't hex you!"

Alice laughed. "That would be very nice, Frank. Thank you."

"Excellent! See you later, then!" He winked as he walked away. This time, Alice really blushed.

Lily burst into a fit of giggles as Alice gushed over Frank Longbottom and his upcoming date with her.

"I don't know, he isn't bad looking, is he, even if he is a bit on the short side. He's always nice to me and –"

Alice was cut of by a sudden uproar of laughter from the end of the long table.

Lily look around to see what the commotion was all about. Standing on the top of the table was Sirius Black, holding his wand out and swaying his hands around like an orchestra conductor. A few feet from him James Potter was on the table, standing there as if he was in a trance. His eyes were wide, and he was singing at the top of his lungs. His voice had been magnified so every person in the Great Hall could hear him:

_Champions, Gryffindors, Champions are we._

_Better, brighter, than those other three._

(James actually pointed to the other three Hogwarts Houses at this point.)

_We can't help being so bold and so brave!_

_We're not like Slytherins, those ugly knaves._

_We'll win the Quidditch Cup, of that we are sure._

_Come see our matches, they're never a bore._

_Oh, come see me, Potter, Chaser with Charm._

_And go out with me Evans, it'll do you no harm!_

Some students, mainly Slytherins, booed at the song. Some people ignored James and Sirius, but most of the Gryffindor table was laughing and applauding.

Lily, somewhat appalled by the song, rolled her eyes at both James and Sirius. Sirius looked proud of the song. James had a slightly bemused expression on his face. Lily whispered, "Let's go, Alice. I have a giant essay to write about Veritaserum. Let's just go."

Alice nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's."

And both girls walked out of the room calmly and quietly, knowing full well that hundreds of eyes were upon them. Sirius called out to them, but Lily paid no attention. She was now focusing on Veritaserum.

_Who in the hell did Potter think he was, pulling a loud, obnoxious stunt like that_? Lily was thinking of ways to use Veritaserum on him. She half wished that she had a cauldron right in front of her so she could mix up the potion then and there.

Oh, the questions she'd love to ask Potter! What is your most embarrassing moment? When did you stop wetting the bed? Have you ever tried on lipstick?

Knowing that she'd never want to be asked some personal questions after sipping a bit of Veritaserum, Lily savagely thought of all the embarrassing answers she could elicit from James Potter with it. Her blood was still boiling, so she took great satisfaction in imagining his little stupid secrets and how the school would react after they had heard about it. Lily thought to herself bitterly, _he wouldn't be so cool, then, would he?_


	4. The Operation Begins

I don't own JK Rowling's Harry Potter, but I own this fanfiction. ;-)

**Chapter 4: The Operation Begins**

James stomped up the staircase leading to the Gryffindor Common Room after dinner had ended. "What did you do to me, Padfoot?" he demanded.

Sirius frowned. "What did I do to you?" he asked, confused.

"Was it a spell? Charm? Potion? Did you slip something into my pumpkin juice?" James asked.

"What _are_ you talking about, Prongs?"

James turned around looking furious and exasperated. "There must have been some sort of spell you used on me to make me sing that song. I sure as hell didn't sing it myself!"

Sirius looked befuddled. "That wasn't you? I didn't put _anything _in your pumpkin juice, mate. I thought that you were just trying out another way to ask Evans out, so I went along with it to get everyone's attention. I thought the song was brilliant."

Remus cleared his throat. He said, "The song was…erm…unique." Peter snickered.

James swore out loud. "I didn't that song on my own! I mean, it was like: One minute I'm eating dessert and the next, I can't help but getting on top of the table and singing as loud as I possibly can. I didn't even know that song until I sang it! And Evans didn't look at all pleased." He paused. "Although, I must say, the song was truly _excellent_." Remus rolled his eyes, but no one saw him, thankfully. Sirius grinned, and Peter nodded. James implored, "So none of you put any sort of spell or charm on me at dinner just now?"

The other three Marauders shook their heads. "Fine!" said James grumpily. He knew that his best friends wouldn't lie to him, but it was equally frustrating to know that someone had put a spell on him. He didn't know who did it. If this was someone's idea of a prank, it was pretty useless, wasn't it? After all, most of Gryffindor House had cheered James on! Forget Evans, he was still one of the most popular boys at school, and this gave James much more satisfaction than it should have.

James went on, "Just forget it, then. I'm sure that Evans is ticked at me, but what's new? There are more important things to worry about. Like our plans for Halloween. Fiddlesticks." This was the Gryffindor password.

The Fat Lady replied to the four boys. "Fiddlesticks, indeed!" The giant portrait swung open and the Marauders climbed into the portrait hole. James looked around to see if Lily was in the circular Common Room and was relieved to see that she was not. Many students were dispersed in the room, but it was fairly quiet there with only a buzz of whispers.

Remus said, "Let me get my books, and we'll talk about Halloween while we do our Potions essay."

Sirius gaped at him. "That's due next week…_After_ Halloween, mate."

Remus looked around cautiously. No one was close enough to hear him. He whispered, "Yes but, Halloween is Saturday, and _I'm very busy that day_."

Both James and Sirius realized instantly that Remus was talking about the full moon, and they jumped up with their fists in the air and whooped. Remus instantly regretted mentioning it, because people were beginning to stare at them.

A dark haired girl with blue eyes actually dropped her books because of James' and Sirius' sudden outburst. James recognized her as the petite fourth-year girl who supposedly was head-over-heals in love with Sirius Black. James smirked at Sirius.

Sirius, who was now very uncomfortable because he figured that the girl had probably been staring at him since the moment he stepped inside the room, turned back to Remus and said, "Right, I totally forgot!"

Remus gave him a dangerous look. "Shh!"

Peter said, "Right, so, let's get our books now." The boys retrieved their books and quills from their dormitory and found an empty table in the Common Room to work together. Remus convinced them that it would be wise for them to start their Veritaserum essay, too. As they worked, they discussed their plans for Halloween.

A few hours later, at around 8:45, Remus closed his books and informed the other boys that he had to patrol the corridors for a bit. "Oh, and Wormtail and Padfoot, Professor McGonagall wants to see you at 9 O'clock in her office."

Sirius asked, "Why?"

Remus shrugged. "I don't know, but I'm betting it has something to do with the Babbling Curse you two put on for Walu Walibunga today in class!"

Sirius, Peter, and James laughed. "Wormtail's right, though. She had it coming. She never stops gossiping. It's quite annoying."

James said indignantly, "I don't remember you guys doing that. Where was I?"

"Dunno.You were probably late to class." answered Peter.

Remus said. "I was supposed to send the message, but I'm patrolling the same corridor that leads to her office. We could go together if you wanted."

Sirius closed his books. "Sure."

The three boys said goodbye to James and walked out of the Common Room. As they began walking, Remus said quietly, "McGonagall didn't call for you."

Sirius grinned. "I knew that. There's no way Walu would've told on us. She had no idea that we cursed her."

Peter added in, "I was wondering about that!"

Remus looked at his two friends gravely. "I heard you singing in the shower this morning, Padfoot."

Sirius said sheepishly, "Now, Moony. Don't you think it's a bit inappropriate to watch me in shower, mate?"

Remus smiled but went on, "I said I _heard_ you. I wasn't watching you. To be quite honest, I think that images that you imprinted into all of our minds by streaking through the dormitory in our third year are_ enough to last a lifetime_. I never want to see you naked again."

Sirius looked outraged. "I wasn't _streaking_. I had gotten shampoo in my eyes and James had Vanished my towel!" Peter and Remus both burst out into laughter.

Sirius was wide-eyed with disbelief. "I was not streaking! I swear!"

Peter joked, "Sure, sure. That's your story and you're sticking to it."

Remus, wiping a tear from his eyes, said, "It's quite strange, Sirius, but the song that you were singing this morning sounded _just_ like the one that our dear friend James was singing at dinner."

Sirius smirked. "Ohhh. That's what you were getting at."

Peter said, "Sirius didn't tell you about that?"

Remus said, "No, he didn't." He turned to Sirius. "I figured it was you, though. You're still going to trying to make Lily go out with James, aren't you?"

Sirius exclaimed, "Of course I am, mate!"

Remus sighed, giving up on trying convincing Sirius out of this. "So what did you do?"

Sirius grinned devilishly. He pulled a small vial of blue liquid from within his black robe. "I _did_ put something in James' pumpkin juice tonight. It's Singing Potion. I bought it from Zonko's a few months ago. I charmed it today to sing the song, but I was actually creating the song this morning when you overheard me. After I charmed it, I slipped some in Prongs' juice. And the next thing you know, he's serenading everybody in the Great Hall – including Ev- I mean, Lily."

Remus snapped at Sirius, "But it didn't really do the right thing, did it? Lily looked repulsed by the song!"

Peter said, "Yeah, she really didn't look too happy about it, Padfoot." Then Peter turned to Remus. "I created the diversion at dinner so Padfoot could put the potion in Prong's drink. Remember when I dropped my mashed potatoes?"

Remus answered, "Oh yeah."

Sirius said regretfully, "It didn't work though. I thought that she'd love being sung to!"

Remus shook his head. "Sirius Black, I sometimes wonder how you can be so thick and still have such a long list of girlfriends!"

"What?" Sirius asked loudly. "What's wrong with me?"

Remus sighed. "If you two are going to help James win over Lily, you're going to have to go about it the right way."

Sirius cut in and said impatiently, "That's why we wanted you help, Moony!"

Remus replied, "Well, I'm helping now, aren't I?"

Sirius grinned, and teased. "I knew you'd come around eventually."

Remus rolled his eyes and retaliated, "Well, if I didn't, who knows what _brilliant _ideas you two would come up with."

Peter scowled. Sirius stuck his chin up. "Actually, I have a new plan for Operation Emerald Arrogance. It's fool-proof, and even you will like it Moony. It's –"

Remus cut him off. "Operation what?"

Peter answered. "_Operation Emerald Arrogance_. Sirius told me all about it today before lunch."

Sirius smiled. "Do you like it? I thought of the name all by myself!"

Remus paused. "Emerald because Lily has green eyes, and Arrogance because James is -"

"No, no, no! It has nothing to do with James. Lily's the arrogant one for refusing to go out with him. Thus, we have Emerald Arrogance."

Remus bit his tongue. He loved his best friend James like a brother, but he knew that both James and Sirius could be very vain at times. Of course, they themselves didn't realize it, but Remus appreciated his friends all too well to point it out. He replied. "All right, Sirius, count me in on this Operation. But just remember – this stays between the three of us. No one else knows about it, and we all have to approve of the plans for this operation!"

Sirius raised his right hand and stated, "Maruauder's honor." Peter and Remus followed suit.

Sirius rubbed his hands together while muttering, "This is great. We've got Moony on our side now! Excellent! All right, boys. Here's my new plan..."

That night, before going to bed, Sirius opened James' bed curtains. He shook James to get him to wake up. "Prongs! Prongs!"

James did not stir. "Prongs! James!" Sirius shook him even harder, causing the whole bed to shake. "James Potter, wake up!" Still, James did not so much as twitch.

Sirius thought for a moment. Then, he leaned down and spoke loudly into James' right ear. "Would you look at that! Lily Evans is standing naked in Common Room downstairs right now!"

It worked. In a split second, James Potter shot up out of bed, pulled his curtains open, and ran for his dormitory door. Regretting he had ever said that, Sirius barely caught the back of James' shirt to pull him back. "I was kidding! She's not there!"

James, half-awake and half-deranged, pushed Sirius away, "Getawayfrome!"

Sirius held on tighter to James and whispered. "I was lying, James! Wake up! Lily is not downstairs! I repeat LILY IS NOT NOT STANDING NAKED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE COMMON ROOM!"

Finally James focused his eyes on Sirius, but his mouth was still hanging open. There was a dim lamp lit in the far end of the room, but it gave enough illumination to show that James was very angry. Luckily, Sirius was about two inches taller than James and he stared down at James and said, "Well, what do you expect me to do? You sleep like a bear!"

James snapped, "Well, you don't have to go yelling about naked girls to make me wake up!"

Sirius correct, with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "Girl. One girl, mate. This is second time you've reacted like that. I'm beginning to think that you have a slight infatuation for Ev- I mean, Lily."

James' face turned tomato red. "Shut it, Sirius. What did you wake me up for?"

Sirius shrugged. "Well, I was just looking under my bed and I found all these candies from Honeydukes that we stole two weeks. I thought I had left them in the passageway."

"And?"

"_And_ I was going to suggest that you give them to Lily as a present when you apologize for the song you sang at dinner," Sirius said cautiously.

"Padfoot, I already told you, that I didn't sing that on purpose. There's no way I'm going to apologize for that!" James cried.

Sirius pleaded, "But there's no way that Lily knows, she'll never believe that you didn't do that. Just pretend like you're sorry. If you act sincere, she may like that."

"But I'm not going to be sincere if I apologize about something that wasn't my fault!" James said through gritted teeth.

Sirius went on, "But I'm sure she'll think it was really nice that you thought of her enough to apologize. And a gift basket of sweets would definitely help."

James sat on the edge of his bed and thought about the idea. "It might work. She might even if go out with me if I'm nice to her and I buy her things."

"So you'll do it?"

James looked up at his best friend regretted ever snapping at him. "Yeah, I think I will. First thing tomorrow morning. Thanks for the idea, mate."

Sirius grinned. "That's what friends are for!"

The next morning, James was sitting and waiting for Lily in an armchair by the fireplace. He had showered, dressed, and put his gift basket together for Lily early so he could catch her in the morning.

Groggy students came down from their dormitories in ones and twos, and James sat there waiting impatiently for Lily. Finally, he saw her coming down the stairs on her own. Upon seeing her, he grinned.

When she noticed James standing up to talk to her, Lily just glared and gave him the _I-dare-you-to-talk-to-me_ look.

James overlooked that. "Hey Evans. How are you?"

Lily turned to him and narrowed her green eyes. "Leave me alone, Potter."

James went on quickly. "I just wanted to apologize for the stunt I pulled last night." He forced his expression to look very solemn.

Lily, who was walking away, turned around with a look of surprise on her face.

James, noticing that this apologizing stuff was working, went on. Staring willfully at his shoes, he said in a faltering voice, "Yeah, I..er..didn't mean to embarrass you in front of the whole school and it was pretty obnoxious to sing that song."

He had rehearsed what he was going to say to her many times with Sirius the night before, so he was especially pleased to see that his work had paid off. He looked up to see that Lily didn't look angry or upset anymore. He finished, "I'm really sorry."

Lily said with a half-smile. "It's all right, I guess. Thank you for the apology."

James grinned. "No problem. Oh, and here. I got this for you. To make up for the singing." He handed the large, extravagant, and beautiful basket of Honeydukes chocolates over to Lily, who accepted it with a look of surprise.

"Oh, thank you." She said. "You, uh, shouldn't have."

James waved the basket away. "It was nothing, you know." He gave her his winning smile.

She smiled back, but still looked like she was at a loss for words. There was an awkward silence.

James figured that this was a perfect time to ask her. "So, I was wondering what you were doing on Halloween. I mean, maybe you'd like to go to Hogsmeade with me."

Before Lily could reply (for she had opened her mouth to speak), James went on. "I could, you know, buy you new robes. I messed up those with the Exploding Snap cards, so I really should buy you new robes. I owe you."

Lily replied instantly, "No it's fine. I don't need you to buy me new robes. Kids at Hogwarts burn and mess up their robes all the time. I can get them on my own, thanks."

James said, "No it's fine." He added in a deeper voice, "_I am rich, you know_. Robes are nothing. I get new ones all the time. Just let me buy you new ones." He smiled flirtatiously, and said arrogantly, "I can buy you anything you want. Just go out with me."

Lily wasn't smiling anymore. In fact, she wasn't thinking anymore either. In a flash of seconds, the entire contents of her gift basket were poured over James' head. Lily then shoved the basket violently into James' chest, knocking the wind out of him, "No thank you, Potter! I don't need you or your stupid money!"


	5. Conversations & Apostrophes

I don't own JK Rowling's Harry Potter, but I own this fanfiction. ;-)

Chapter 5: **Conversations**

Lily stormed downstairs to the Great Hall, completely disappointed in James Potter. For a second there, he had her believing that he was capable of actually apologizing and being a normal, compassionate person. She felt like a fool, but then considered the fact that many girls at school would have simply died if he had given them a basket of chocolates. Maybe she wasn't that gullible after all. And she sure wasn't as artificial as other girls. As if James Potter actually thought that he could buy her affection!

Lily laughed to herself. That was such a James thing to do. It was thoroughly annoying. As she seated herself down to the breakfast table, a large of group of her friends sat beside her. Alice, of course, was on her right. Monique Pickering and Konica Rice were also there. As they chattered away, Lily couldn't help but melt into the conversation. It was so easy with her friends. There were no pretenses, no nervousness. She could just be herself. One minute she was angry at James Potter, and the next minute she didn't really mind. With her friends, it was like…James? James who?

"So," asked a rather tall blonde haired boy, "What are your plans for Halloween, Lils?" His name was Joseph Radisson, and he was also a friend of Lily's.

Lily rolled her eyes. "I have no clue."

All the girls burst into laughter. Monique said teasingly, "Well, you know. You could have accepted Wyatt McLaggen or Jace Braisington's invitations to Hogsmeade on Halloween, Lils. Or the ten other guys that asked you."

Lily shrugged. "Yeah," she said distantly. "I could have, but I just didn't want to go with any of those boys. Plus, Wyatt is far too conceited. And Jace? He's so quiet and shy, I'd be talking the whole time. Did you see his face when he asked me out? He couldn't even look me in the eyes. I really didn't feel like going with a date, you know. "

Alice grinned. "No, I don't know!" Everyone laughed. They could all tell that she was very excited about her date with Frank.

Joseph continued, "Well, everyone _here_ is going to Hogsmeade with someone special except me and you, Lily." He gave everyone at his part of the table a very sour look and a joking wink to Lily.

Lily smiled brightly. "Well, then I guess it's just me and you at Hogsmeade on Halloween. That's so much better than a date. A friend!"

Joseph raised his goblet of pumpkin juice and said "Cheers". Lily laughed.

"I just don't want to talk about it!" James protested, poking at his fried egg lazily with a fork. It was looking more like a mutilated yellow blob by the second.

"But is Lily going to Hogsmeade with you on Saturday?" begged Sirius.

James looked furious. "NO!" he yelled more loudly than he meant to. "She's not!" People were starting to stare again.

Sirius bowed his head in disappointment.

James looked around. All he saw across from his was Wormtail spilling egg yolk down the front of his robes. "Where's Moony?"

"Er…he wasn't feeling well, I think. He went to talk to Madam Pomfrey."

"Ah."

"Well…what happened?"

James glared at Sirius. "Actually, I have no bloody clue. But if you really want me to relive it, fine. Here goes: I went to her. I said all the things you told me to say. I acted like I was sorry. I pretended that I care, when I really don't see any reason why she should have been mad in the first place. Then I handed her the chocolate and she seemed to like it. But _Evans has this crazy mood-swing, I'm-a-schizophrenic thing going on_, because the next minute I'm telling her that I'll buy her new robes and she dumps the entire basket over my head. I don't know what her bloody problem is! You'd think that a girl would be happy if I offered to buy her things."

Sirius sat there, listening to James. For a moment, he was lost in his own thoughts. A small voice told him that no sensible girl would want a guy to buy her things to win her happiness. But Sirius ignored this voice, thinking it was probably belonging to Satan or something. He said slowly, "Yeah…I don't know what Evans' problem is! I mean, what did you do wrong!"

James shrugged. "Exactly. Maybe she's going through that thing girls go through…you know…their…their…._apostrophes_ or something."

Sirius snorted and rolled his eyes. Condescendingly, he informed James, "No mate. Not an apostrophe. It's called a _comma_." He raised his eyebrows in a way to suggest that this was the most obvious thing in the world.

Peter looked at the two boys as if they were mad. Clearly, they had never ever been around girls before. Wormtail said gravely. "It's their period, you gits! A period! How could you not know that?"

Siruis retorted, "Sorry, mate. We don't have sisters or girl cousins that we spend all of our time with!"

Wormtail protested, "You go out with enough girls!"

James said, "We snog them, Wormtail. We don't usually ask them about their bodily functions." All three boys laughed.

Wormtail said, "I don't even have a sister, and I haven't gone out with that many girls and I still know with a period is. You two are so weird."

Sirius glared at Peter and said sarcastically, "Yep, Wormtail. We're the right old creeps here at Hogwarts."

Remus banged his head on the wall. Again. And again. And again.

Sirius was getting worried. "Stop, Moony! Stop! What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm just trying to forget that I every joined this Operation and simultaneously punish myself for it."

Sirius asked, "Why? What did I do wrong, now?"

Remus stared at his best friend, who really seemed at a loss. Sirius really didn't know what was wrong.

Remus said slowly, patiently, "Let's just say that the reason that your plan didn't go well was because Prongs offered to buy Lily clothes and material gifts in return for a relationship. Lily Evans is not the type of girl who would go for that."

Sirius stared at Remus in disbelief. "Really?"

Remus nodded, smiling now. "Really. She's been an acquaintance, if not a friend, of mine since we were first years. I know what type of person she is, and it's not that type of person."

Sirius protested. "But she's so popular. Lot's of guys like her. She has so many friends and all the teachers like her. James and I are popular, too! Lily and James – They're two of a kind." He paused for a moment. "I mean, I'm not saying that you're not popular too, Moony, because you are. You really are. But everyone thinks that the Marauders are cool. Isn't Lily like that?"

Remus laughed. "No! She's popular, but she isn't shallow."

"I'm not shallow!"

"I didn't say you were. All I'm saying is that it seems shallow to go out with someone just because he promises you presents."

"Right. I will convince James not to offer any more presents."

"Good."

"Then again," Sirus stammered. "Maybe you should talk to him and explain this to him."

Remus let out a hollow laugh. "Haven't you noticed, Sirius?"

"What?" Sirius was confused more than ever.

Remus shook his head. "The only person that Prongs ever listens to when it comes to things like Lily Evans, popularity, Lily Evans, Quidditch, Lily Evans, and Snape is you."

Remembering this, Sirius said lamely, "Oh yeah."

James was running down a corridor that night. He recognized a boy up ahead of him. "Oy, Harkinson! You're not supposed to be out this late."

The fifth year Slytherin stopped and replied coolly, "Look who's talking, Potter."

"Silencio!" James flicked his wand casually, and smirked. "Expelliarmus!" The boy fell backwards onto the hard floor, and James caught his wand easily.

"Shame on you, Harkinson. I hope you don't plan to walk in the corridors at this time of night again!" James said mockingly. With that, he smacked Harkinson over the head with his own wand and ran away. He looked behind, making sure that the Slytherin wouldn't curse him.

"Nice work mate!"

James whirled around, with his wand out. "Padfoot?"

Sirius stepped out of the shadows. "The one and only!" He grinned.

James chuckled. "Thanks. What's up?"

"Oh nothing," said Sirius casually. "What are you doing around the castle without your cloak?"

"I dunno. Just wanted to go for a quick stroll, but it turned out to be a full tour of the castle." James seemed a bit melancholy, Sirius noted.

"Ah. I see. What's on your mind?"

"Nothing much, really," James lied. "You?"

"Actually, I stalked you half way around the castle to talk to you about Lily Evans again."

James frowned. "What about her?"

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know. I was thinking about what you told me, and I think that Lily is the type of girl who wouldn't like to accept gifts in exchange for going out with someone."

James stayed quiet for a minute or two, lost in his own thoughts. Sirius waited patiently for a response. Finally James said, "I was thinking about that myself, and I think your theory is right." He added in a perplexed tone, "Surprisingly, it makes sense."

"Good," Sirius said, feeling relieved.

The conversation ended there. With James and Sirius, sometimes a few words seemed like a whole conversation between them. They were like brothers, and they didn't always have to speak to communicate. They also didn't need words to understand what the other was feeling. This time, Sirius knew that James was regretting his words. He just didn't have the heart to point it out. Walking around with James and being on his side was all that Sirius could do.

On the other hand, Sirius didn't realize just how much James appreciated that.


	6. Halloween Part I

I don't own JK Rowling's Harry Potter, but I own this fanfiction. ;-)

**Chapter 6: Halloween Part I**

There are some days when the weather is crucial, no matter how optimistic a person can be. Halloween was one of these days, and luckily for all the Hogwarts students, and it turned out perfectly. It was sunny, blindingly bright, and comfortably cool for the last day of October.

Lily went down to the Entrance Hall, and met Joseph to walk down to the village. When they reached their destination, Lily insisted that they go to the Three Broomsticks last.

"I love to save the best for last!" she said smiling.

Joseph rolled his eyes. "Ok."

"Where do you want to go first?"

Lily's eyes twinkled. "Hmm. Let's think about this," she said mockingly. "Zonko's, of course!"

"You of all people, Miss Perfect Prefect."

"Oh you!" She slapped him on the shoulder. "I love jokes like any other person!"

Joseph and Lily made fun of each other all the way to the joke shop.

"Do you remember that time that when Professor McGonagall burped for an entire Transfiguration class last year? She belched for and hour and half straight, pretending like nothing was wrong."

Joseph proceeded to do a very good impression of Professor McGonagall with too much gas in class. Lily laughed until there were tears in her eyes.

Joseph, also laughing, said, "That _was_ a good joke, especially since she gave us four hours of homework the night before. Remember how mad we all were?"

Still laughing, Lily nodded. Joseph went on, "When she was burping up a storm, she never assigned us any homework!"

Joseph even tried to transfigure his hair into a very tight bun to imitate his Transfiguration teacher. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a lovely shade of orange. Lily was shaking on the floor of Zonko's from laughter after seeing his bun.

Lily refused to turn his hair back. Joseph kept on trying to fix it, but it was useless. Instead of returning to his natural blond hair, the bun just grew larger and larger.

"Lily, come on! You know how to reverse the spell!"

"So what if I do?"

"Lily!" Joseph protested, as the immense bun at the top of his weighed his tall head down. "You're torturing me!"

Lily laughed evilly. ""I like orange on you!"

"No you don't! Orange is bad on me! Come on, Lily!"

Lily shook her head no.

"You're so cruel!"

Lily just continued to giggle.

Somewhat angry now, Joseph muttered, "What?"

"It was me."

Joseph's eyes grew wide. "WHAT?"

Lily was a little more solemn now, but there was still a smile playing at her lips. "You have to promise not to tell!"

"It was _you_?" Joseph stammered.

"It was a dare," Lily protested. "I was teaching Monique, Alice, and a few other girls this muggle game I used to play when I was little. It's called _Truth or Dare. _

"How does one play _Truth or Dare_?" Joseph asked cautiously.

"Well, you ask the girl 'Truth or Dare' and the girl picks one. If she chooses _Truth_, you ask her a question and she has to answer it honestly. If she chooses _Dare_, she has to do whatever you tell her to."

Joseph asked, "And what if she says neither?"

Lily looked at him incredulously. "Well, then you're a big old wimp! Why would you even play if you're not going to choose one?" Joseph shrugged. "And of course, I just _had_ to pick 'Dare'. Of _all _things for Alice to dare me to do…To put Belch Powder in Professor McGonagall's tea. I was so scared that I'd get caught, but then…"

In disbelief, Joseph whispered, "James Potter got the detention for it."

Lily bit back a smile for a second, but she couldn't resist. "Well, if he and Sirius Black had never magnified the sound of her belches so everyone in the corridor could hear her, she would have had no reason to suspect them!"

Joseph laughed, and his bright orange bun wobbled and shook. "Oh yeah!"

Lily grinned wickedly and stated, "And you thought and Alice and I were sweet little girls. You did, didn't you?"

"Sweet little girls would set my hair back," Joseph said sardonically.

Lily said innocently, "But I like it that color. It really suits you!"

"Whatever", muttered Joseph, defeated.

In truth, he really didn't mind the hair; it was sort of entertaining, what with the wide array of eyes upon him. It was rather amusing to see people point and stare in Zonko's. Lily and Joeseph finally began to look around Zonko's. To one befuddled Fourth Year boy, Joseph even said seriously, "What, you've never seen a guy with orange hair?"

The boy ran off quickly. Joseph chuckled, as Lily gave him a very serious stare.

Lily found some rather mild jokes like Whizzing Worms and Hiccup Sweets that she really liked, and she bought a few. To celebrate the occasion of letting Joseph in on one of her many little secrets, Lily bought a whole stock of Belch Powder for both her and Joseph.

They laughed all the way to Gladrags Wizardwear, as they planned who they'd use the Belch Powder on. In the store, Lily stared longingly at all the elaborate, pretty witches' dress robes. Joseph sat uncomfortably in one of the hard chairs by the fitting room while the owner of the store stared at his giant, orange bun. When Joseph just smiled widely and waved at her, the old woman was so startled that she hurried into the storage room.

Lily finally pulled Joseph out of the clothing store, feeling rather melancholy.

"If I just stopped buying useless things like jokes and sweets, I'd be able to afford those gorgeous green robes. I need to stop wasting my pocket money." She scolded herself.

"Always bullying someone. Absolutely wrong!" Joseph muttered.

"What?" Lily asked, confused. Joseph was staring at the front of Honeydukes Sweet Shop, looking rather annoyed.

Following his sight, she rolled her eyes. As if replaying a scene from the previous June, Lily let out "Hmmph." Wand pointed out, Severus Snape was surrounded by Peter Pettigrew, James Potter, and Sirius Black. All four boys looked livid.

"You slimy, sleazy, greasy little dirtball! What do you think you were doing with that list anyway!" shouted Sirius.

James told Sirius, till staring and aiming at Snape, "He was trying to out-prank us! Look at this order form. Dungbombs. 50. Stink Pellets. 30. Did you actually think that you would outdo us, Snivellus!" James snarled. In a flash, he had ripped a long piece of paper into shreds with his wand.

"Shut up, Potter. You once again outdo yourself, proving that you are the most arrogant idiot alive. Expelliarmus!" Snape spat.

James easily deflected the spell. However, he suddenly felt stinging all over his face as he felt red welts rose all over it.

"Furnunculus!" roared Sirius, seeing the welts on James' face. Then, disgusting, long tentacles covered Snape's face.

"Petrificus Totalus!" James yelled. In an instant, Snape's body hit the hard ground, stiff as a board. Then James placed the same stinging spell on Snape's already altered face. In an instant, there were red welts all across the spots on his face without tentacles. "Do you like the taste of your own medicine, Snivellus?" His eyes were wide with glee.

"James Potter!" James looked at Lily stalking up to him, and he rolled his eyes. "Oh no, not you, Evans. It's a shame you have to see this."

"Well, I don't want to see this anymore. Take the curses off this instant!" Lily ordered in a forcefully calm voice. Her green eyes were ablaze with fury, and James seemed to back away just a slight bit.

Lily stepped up, and even though she was a bit shorter than him, she looked straight into his eyes, unblinkingly. "Fix this, Potter, or it'll be your arse." She looked threateningly at Sirius and Peter. "The same goes for you two."

James smirked. "Fine." He pointed his wand and undid the tentacles and red welts on Snape's face. He was still unable to move, though. "But I can't resist. Go out with me Evans. On my honor, we'll never give Snivellus ugly tentacles on his already ugly face again!"

If Snape could move, it would be obvious that he would have forgotten wands. He would have tried to rip and tear James apart with his own bare hands. The evidence showed on his face; it was usually sallow and pale, but at this moment, it was a bright red.

Whack. Lily slapped James across his face with considerable force. For a few seconds, everyone present was too shocked to speak. Already red and swollen, James' left check was now glittering red; it was almost bleeding. He was open-mouthed, agape.

Lily felt a tug on her robes. It was Joseph. "Come. Lily. Let's just go."

James muttered angry. "You know Evans, you seem to love violence yourself, you know. Compared to you, how can I be so bad? First you dump an entire basket of chocolates on my head…"

Sirius was pulling James back, and he muttered, "Come on, Prongs. Let it go. Come on, James." James looked ready to strangle someone. He was livid and he was proving to be a very difficult person to hold back.

Giving a glare of death, Lily stomped away. Trying to drown his voice out, Lily said very loudly, "Yes, Joseph. I need to buy a few quills from Scrivenshaft's. Let's go."

"And then you butt into my business and slap me as hard as you bloody can! I don't see what I did that was so bad. Hey, Evans!"

"Come on, hurry!" Lily whispered to her friend, and the two walked away rather quickly.

"Oy, Evans! What is your problem? EVANS! I LOVE YOUR BOYFRIEND'S HAIRDO; IT'S REALLY HANDSOME! EVANS!" James roared.

When they reached the quill shop, Lily was breathing very heavily. She didn't know if she wanted to cry or scream out in anger. She said desperately to Joseph, "I've never seen him so mad!" She looked a bit worried.

Joseph frowned. "Yeah. You didn't have to slap him, though. You and Potter, you have matching tempers."

"I have absolutely _nothing _in common with James Potter!" spat Lily.

She tried picking up an elaborate golden feathered quill but her hands were shaking. "I shouldn't have slapped him, though…Joseph?"

Joseph replied soothingly, "I don't know, Lily. It's not like he's going to hex you. I mean, he keeps asking you out, right? I don't think he'll bother you too much. I'm more worried about myself."

She laughed shakily. "He only asks because I'm the only girl who says no to him. I'm the only girl who doesn't fall for him."

Joseph said again, "I don't know, Lily. Maybe you should've smacked him, maybe not. The point is, he was doing something wrong too."

Lily sighed. "Whatever. I'll just…I'll just…"

"Apologize?"

"No!" Lily said too excitedly. "I can't. It would, it would justify what he did to Severus Snape. He should apologize to me. Then I'll gladly apologize to him."

There was a moment of contemplative silence. Joseph said nicely, "Lily. My friend, my sister, my darling. (Lily grinned, despite herself at the way he was addressing her. ) _It's Halloween_!"

"Yeah." Lily said. "Yeah. Let's forget about that, Joseph."

Joseph egged her on. "I can smell the butterbeer from in here."

Lily giggled. "I think that hair's getting to you, Joseph."

"Well you wouldn't change it back!" he said, looking hopeful that she would finally change it back.

Lily shrugged. "To the Three Broomsticks?"

Joseph's face fell. He said sullenly, obviously disappointed that she still wouldn't change his hair back, "Yep. Let's go."

Lily laughed. "Oh, Joseph." She waved her arm and muttered an advanced charm she had learned the previous year. Joseph's hair was blonde and short again.

Looking in the glass window near him, Joseph ran a hand through his hair. He turned to Lily and grinned. "Thank you!"

Lily smiled. "No problem."

The two friends walked to the Three Broomstick, which was very full. As Lily and Joseph walked in, she noticed that Alice and Frank were sitting comfortably in the corner. Alice had a smile on her face, and she looked very happy. Lily walked by, catching Alice's eye, and winked.

When Lily and Joseph seated themselves, and Lily had order their butterbeers, Lily asked Joseph if he'd ever play _Truth or Dare_ with her.

Joseph wrinkled his nose. "That sounds like a girl's game."

Lily said evasively, "Oh, no_. Not all the time_."

Joseph looked at her suspiciously. "Maybe another time."

"Fine, then." Lily's eyes were gleaming. "Next time, then."

The door to the pub swung open and in walked Monique. She ran in hurriedly and went to sit down next to Lily. "Lily, you'll never guess what I heard!"


	7. Halloween Part II

I don't own JK Rowling's Harry Potter, but I own this fanfiction. ;-)

**Chapter 7: Halloween Part II**

"EVANS!" James was furious. He was mad at Evans, at Snape, at the whole bloody world. For one thing, he was used to getting things the way he wanted. This was probably the fiftieth time that Evans had refused to go out with him. Secondly, he wasn't used to un-cursing Severus Snape.

He turned around, and stared at Snape, who was still on the ground. He undid Petrificus Totalus and pointed his wand at Snape. "Get out of here," he snarled.

Snape stood up, shakily. Fury unlike anything else was burning on his face. He had his wand pointed at James too. "Go to hell, Potter!" He spat on the hem on James' robes.

James lunged at Snape, but Sirius and Peter both managed to hold onto him and pull him back. James pulled, ripped, and cursed ferociously, trying to get at Snape. Sirius held him back, thinking that the Marauders couldn't get a detention on Halloween – especially because of Remus and the full moon. However, he wished that he could hex Snape into next week.

"Think, come on, Prongs. You can't, it's Halloween!" Sirius struggled.

Peter, who was smaller than the other three, was beasting it out with his best friend. Trying to hold back James Potter in a fight was like trying to prevent the Titanic from sinking. He was breathing hard from the effort, "Come on, please, Prongs, stop. Stop!"

The usually rosy color on James' cheek was gone. Even the welts from Snape's curse and the mark from Lily's slap were gone. He was that angry. His face was now white and livid, and he was shaking.

Sirius glared at Snape, his own wand out. "Get out of here, Snivellus. Just go."

But Snape was too furious and angry to move. Not to mention, he'd rather die than listen to Sirius Black and James Potter. "You know why Evans would never go out with you, Potter? Because you're filth. All of you. Blood-traitors and filth. Then again, you'd go together very well, Potter. Evans, being a Mudblood, and all!"

In a matter of seconds, Sirius, who was stronger, had let go of James. He had run out of patience. James pulled free from Peter's grip, causing Wormtail to fall on the ground. Snape took several steps back, in shock.

James and Sirius, now both angry beyond words or wands, raced towards Snape. In a moment of panic, Snape used_ his_ wand. Then there was a flash of white light and James and Sirius were flying back 10 feet into the ground. They hit the floor with a sickening thud.

With a loud crack, Snape disappeared.

Peter ran over to his friends who looked like they had just been tortured with an Unforgivable Curse. James face was tightened up from the pain, and he was moaning. Sirius was barely breathing. Peter panicked. "Are you all right? Come on, let me help you."

Carefully, Peter helped both Sirius and James up.

"That bastard!" Sirius muttered, as he rubbed his back side. "That…." He proceeded to call Snape many things, which included a lengthy variety of both English and French curse words and insults.

Peter nodded fervently, more concerned about his friends' well-being. "Are you sure you're ok? Next time, just use your wands, mates. Muggle fighting takes too long."

James had not spoken yet. He was limping a little, and he still looked angry. Noticing this, Sirius offered, "Let's take a walk."

Wordlessly, James nodded, and the three boys walked slowly to the wooded area near the Shrieking Shack.

They reached a tiny clearing in the woods where it was nice and quiet. They sat there for a little while, not speaking. Just resting. The bright sun was streaming in through the tree tops, making a strange light pattern as it passed through the leaves on the tops of the trees.

After a short time, Peter said weakly, "I wish we hadn't run into Snivellus today."

Sirius snapped, "Oh and why is that? So he could plant fifty Dungbombs at the Gryffindor table tomorrow morning?" Surprisingly, James still hadn't said anything. He just stared out in front of him, still looking very white.

Peter was taken aback from Sirius' words, looking very hurt.

Siruis amended for it by saying, "Still, you're right, Wormtail. He ruined our whole bloody day." He said bitterly, "I should have left the tentacles on his stupid face. If it hadn't been for Evans…"

Sirius regretted even mentioning Lily because James flinched at the sound of her name. Once, again, Sirius fell silent.

Minutes later, Sirius declared, "I have an idea, Prongs."

James rolled his eyes and finally spoke. He said moodily, "I'm in no mood for ideas." He turned around so he would have to look at Sirius' glittering eyes.

Sirius was a bit discouraged, but he still went on. "Forget Snivellus. He's a git. To hell with him!"

"Amen!" Peter said emphatically. James just stared at the Shrieking Shack, looking miserable and angry.

Sirius, knowing that James would probably only be pretending to ignore him, said, "You should try to make Evans jealous of you."

James' eyes crinkled, but he made no other motion to show he heard Sirius.

"Yeah." Sirius said, admiring his own brilliance. "You should definitely try to make her jealous. You could be with another girl, and then Lily would regret that she ever said no to you_. She would want to go out with you_."

James still didn't move. Still, there was something in his eyes that told Sirius that he had heard everything that he had just said.

_The door to the pub swung open and in walked Monique. She ran in hurriedly and went to sit down next to Lily. "Lily, you'll never guess what I heard!"_

"Hey Monique," Lily said, as Monique scuttled to sit with Joseph and Lily. "What's going on?"

Monique's eyes were shining with disbelief, and she blurted out, "JamesPotterandMironiaVanearegoingout!"

Joseph sniffed. "Is that the big news you were about to tell us?"

Lily, however, looked elated. "Really?"

Monique nodded yes. "He just asked her in front of everyone at Zonko's. He was so loud about it! They've been going out for three minutes and the whole school knows already."

Lily shouted "YES!" and punched the air.

Joseph, in reaction, sputtered out his big sip of butterbeer. "What are you so excited for? I thought you'd be sickened!"

Lily grinned happily. "No, he has a girlfriend! I couldn't be happier for him."

Monique ogled at her. "Yes, he has a girlfriend. James Potter. He's going out with Morinia Vane. You're not in the least offended that he's kissing the lips off of someone in Zonko's after he's been asking you out for the last 3000 years?"

Lily nodded. "Yes! Don't you see? This way, he'll leave me alone!" She said in glee, "Oh I hope he really does stick with Mironia for a while." She added as an afterthought, "Maybe they could even get married. Have some children. Oh God, he'd never bother me again."

Monique shook her head. "Lily, you're crazy!"

Lily shrugged. "What?" she asked defiantly. "A girl can hope, can't she?" Both Joseph and Monique had to turn away to stifle their laughter.


	8. Halloween Part III

I don't own JK Rowling's Harry Potter, but I own this fanfiction. ;-)

**Chapter 8: Halloween Part III**

Lily, Joseph, and Monique had no idea that Sirius and Remus had been sitting behind them listening in to their conversation at the Three Broomsticks. While the three teenagers were busy talking, Padfoot and Moony snuck out of the Three Broomsticks without being noticed.

"Moony, that wasn't the reaction that I expected from Lily at all!" Sirius exclaimed. "I thought she'd be angry that James was going out with someone else."

"You thought wrong! What exactly happened today?" Remus asked, warily.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, from the way it sounds, you, Prongs, and Wormtail first decided to curse Severus Snape in front of Lily," Remus said. (Remus had been at the Hospital Wing for most of the day, getting checked by Madam Pomfrey. He, Dumbledore, Madame Pomfrey had planned out the night for Remus as they usually did.) "Excellent move, mate!" he added sarcastically.

"I already told you, Moony," protested Sirius, "we couldn't help it. He was trying to buy jokes from Zonko's to get us back for last year after the O.W.L.'s."

Remus just glared at him. "It doesn't matter, Padfoot! The point is that Lily saw it! She got mad, didn't she?"

Sirius muttered, "Well, she sort of slapped him."

"What! She hit him?" Remus shouted.

"There's no need to yell! Calm down!" Sirius waved his hands frantically.

Remus breathed slowly, trying not to flip out. "Fine. Whatever. So what is going on with Morinia Vane now?" he asked.

"Oh," Sirius said brightly, "He asked her out!"

"WHY?" Remus yelled.

"You said to make her jealous!" Sirius explained. "I just egged Prongs on. I told him that Lily would be jealous if she saw him with another girl, so he asked Morinia out."

Remus shook his head. "No, no, no, Sirius! I said '_We should find a way to make Lily see what she is missing out on when she refuses to go out with James'_. I didn't say the word 'jealous'."

Sirius said stupidly, "Oh." Remus scowled, but didn't reprimand his friend any more.

They headed down to Honeydukes, where they found Peter. Remus proceeded to spend a hefty amount of money buying candy. Peter's favorite was Bertie Botts. Sirius and Remus both loved Chocolate Frogs. Remus, being a good friend, bought enough candy to last until July.

This whole Operation Emerald Arrogance was stressing him out a little. Remus thought to himself, _maybe I should try to go and talk to James myself. _Also, he'd be howling and scratching away at himself under the Whomping Willow soon. While other students were partying on Halloween, he'd be stuck in his werewolf form.

He felt a great rush of gratitude towards the other Marauders for skipping Halloween and coming to spend time with him.

Sirius, Peter, and Remus walked out of Honeydukes to visit some other stores just as James went into the sweet shop. He was with Morinia, and one of his arms was glued around her waist. The dark haired girl looked very pleased to be in his company. James winked as he passed his friends.

Remus smiled weakly, but Sirius winked back.

Lily and her two friends walked into Honeydukes just ten minutes after James and his new girlfriend had. She didn't notice James, but he noticed her. He casually and subtly stared at her, feeling desperate to make her feel bad for slapping him.

Hoping that Lily would be extremely jealous upon see him and Morinia together, James turned to Morinia with his most charming and flirtatious smile. "Morinia, darling," he said very loudly. "I just can't believe I didn't notice your beauty before! You are amazing!"

Morinia giggled, but didn't blush. Obviously, she was enjoying the attention. "Oh, thank you, Jamsie!"

Ignoring the annoying feeling that he always got when someone called him "Jamsie", he leaned and told her, "No problem." He kissed her, first lightly and then more passionately. Soon, it turned into a full blown make out session, right in the middle of Honeydukes.

When he pulled away, James had to take in a little air for breath. He turned to look at Lily. She was walking out of the sweet shop. James noticed, with great pleasure, that she looked very agitated as he saw her face in profile, leaving the store.

Outside, in the streets of Hogsmeade, Lily was laughing so loud that people were staring at her. "Did you see that show he put on for everyone in there?" Lily had left the candy shop as soon as possible when James had started kissing his girlfriend. She hadn't been able to contain herself, thinking that it was too funny.

Joseph and Monique laughed too, even though they tried not to. Looking from Lily's point of view, James Potter's obvious and open attempt to get attention was very amusing.

"He's so stupid, sometimes," Lily said. "I swear, if I had stayed in that store for one second longer, I would've exploded!"

Along with many other students, Lily, Monique, and Joseph were walking down the road that led back to Hogwarts. The Halloween Feast was going to begin soon. All in all, it had been a very fun day for her. The encounters with James Potter were an exception, of course.

The sky was growing darker, and unbeknownst to Lily or her friends, Remus Lupin was now running back to Gryffindor tower with the Marauders.

"It took you long enough to snog Morinia!" Remus yelled.

"Sorry Moony," James said earnestly. "I really didn't realize. I lost track of – I'm sorry!" He honestly looked sorry that he had made Remus late.

Remus panicked. "I'm going to be late. Oh my God, look how dark it's getting outside!"

Sirius tried to calm him down. "It's fine, Moony. Just grab your stuff and we'll walk you to the entrance hall, and Dumbledore will be there to help you."

Remus was sputtering and beside himself with worry. So, the other boys raced up to Gryffindor tower with him at top speed. They gathered all their things, and they ran back down to the entrance hall.

Professor Albus Dumbledore, wearing black robes with sparkling orange stars, smiled at them from the front door. "Good evening, Remus. James. Sirius. Peter. That is very kind of you, accompanying your friend, as he leaves school for a short while."

James muttered, "It's nothing, Professor Dumbledore." He didn't quite meet Dumbledore's eyes. Remus hadn't told Dumbledore that his three friends knew about him being a werewolf, but no one was really sure if Dumbledore knew the truth or not.

James said sympathetically to Remus, "Hey, you didn't get to eat dinner, did you?" Remus shook his head no.

Dumbledore put a gentle hand on Remus' shoulder. "The house elves in the kitchen made a meal for you, which I have put aside for you." He turned to James. "I am, once again, impressed at how concerned you are for your friend, Mr. Potter."

James just shrugged the compliment away, as if it meant nothing.

Dumbledore clapped his hands, and said cheerily. "Well, we must be going now. See you at the Feast, boys! I won't be long. Come, Remus."

Remus picked up his bags and smiled, despite himself, as he waved to his friends. "Talk to you soon, mates!" With that, Professor Dumbledore and Remus walked out onto the grounds of Hogwarts, Dumbledore closing the door after them.

James, Sirius, and Peter were left in the abandoned entrance hall.

"You have the Cloak with you, right Prongs?" Sirius asked.

"Yep." James pointed to the silvery Invisibility Cloak hidden under his robes.

"Well, it's a while before dinner…" Peter said.

James smirked, looking at Sirius. "Maybe we could fit in a little prank for tonight."

Sirius smiled back. "I like how you're thinking, Prongs…"

A short while later, the entire school, with the exception of Remus, filled the Great Hall with laughter and shrill chattering. Live bats and hundreds of candlelit Jack-o-Lanterns added to eeriness of the Halloween Feast.

Both Lily and James were sitting with their own group of friends, sharing the stories of their Hogsmeade trip. It turned out that many people had spotted Joseph at least once with his bright orange hair.

Then Dumbledore stood up to speak. The room went silent, as was custom when Albus Dumbledore had to say something. He opened his mouth to speak, but then a loud howl came from outside. It was of a wolf.

Some of the students jumped. The Marauders smirked at each other, knowing that there could be only one wolf that could make that sound.

Dumbledore kept a bemused expression on his face, and, with eyes twinkling, he said cheerily, "Happy Halloween. Eat up!"

The food appeared on the table instantly and students stuffed the glorious potatoes, chickens, hams, and vegetables down. Then dessert appeared, as gloriously tasty as ever.

Once the food was gone, James and Sirius knew that the time for their prank had come. James began to count down. "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…!"

BOOM. All the pumpkins in the room exploded in room at the same time! The sound was deafening, and there were small glowing spheres of fire where the pumpkins had previously been.

Many people screamed and ducked for cover. The Marauders laughed. From the exploded pumpkins, golden pieces of paper floated down in the students' hands. They read:

_Happy Halloween, 1976._

Even Lily Evans could smile at this prank.

After everyone had gone off to their dormitory to continue their Halloween festivities, James, Sirius, and Peter sneaked out of the Gryffindor Common Room under the Invisibility Cloak.

As they went out to the grounds, Peter transformed into his rat form. He quickly ran beneath the Whomping Willow and touched the knot in the trunk of the tree so it would stop moving and thrashing about so wildly.

Then James and Sirius transformed into their Animagus forms, the large shaggy dog and the stag. They crept into the tunnels of the Whomping Willow to meet Remus Lupin in his werewolf form. They found him thrashing about in the Shrieking Shack. With Moony, they left the enclosed tunnel where the werewolf was supposed to stay.

They went out into the night, under the silvery moon. As animals, their interaction was different. Still, the four held the same, strong brotherly bond. They shared many adventures throughout Halloween night, prowling through the woods. They found unicorns together in the woods. Once or twice they saw a few Centaurs from afar. The pushed their limits, trying to go as far as they possibly could outside of Hogwarts without getting caught.

As much as they were being rebellious and dangerous, Padfoot and Prongs had to be cautious about being seen. It was ironic that they were the most careful on the one night in the month when they broke the most rules.

In all, it was a very exciting night. The Marauders had the most fun on the full moon.

Lily and the girls in her dormitory were having a slumber party. Yet again, Lily had convinced all the girls to play _Truth or Dare_.

It was Alice's turn. She looked around, trying to decide who to pick. "Monique…Truth or Dare?"

Monique giggled. "Dare, of course!"

Alice smirked. "You have to grow a beard and wear it tomorrow. All day!"

Monique looked appalled. No, she looked like the world had just ended. She was friends with very modest people, but she was a very different girl. In fact, her favorite characteristic about herself was her beautiful face. She herself couldn't deny it. "No! Alice, you can't possibly – "

Alice cut in, grinning. "A very long beard."

Monique pouted and said sadly. "Fine."

Lily offered, "Let me get my Charms book. I'll do it." She retrieved her thick Advanced Charms book and started sifting through it. "Here," she said, pointing to a small spell. "This spell is used to grow temporary hair on a person's body. It is usually used for beards on the face."

Alice looked the spell over and nodded. "Good, Lily. You can do the honors."

Lily smiled and got her wand out. She concentrated very hard on Monique's chin, where the beard would grow.

Monique, on the other hand, was wincing as if someone was about to stab her with a long needle. She had her eyes closed and her hands were clenched to the bed beside her.

Lily said the charm, "Morfeus Folliculus".

All the girls squealed loudly with laughter as a long brown beard and matching mustache grew out of Monique's beautiful face. It started out as a goatee, but then the hair on her chin grew longer until it reached her waist. Monique ran desperately to the mirror and let out a despairing cry.

The girls in the dormitory didn't hear her, though. They were rolling on the floor in hysterical laughter.

_Merlin, _thought Lily to herself as she wiped away tears from her eyes, _I do start trouble, don't I?_

Monique came back and sat down, looking half furious and half amused. "Lily Evans, Truth or Dare?"

Automatically, Lily said, "Dare." She instantly regretted it as she saw the smile creep up on Monique's bearded face.

"Good choice. I dare you to spend the whole night, without getting caught, in a boys' dormitory." There was a dramatic pause and Monique finally said, "James Potter's dormitory."

The room exploded with laughter and cheers. Lily stared at Monique, mouth wide open in shock. "You're evil," she whispered.

Monique just shrugged and laughed, her beard wagging up and down.

Lily smirked. She said defiantly, "Fine. I'll do it. But you're covering for me. Tomorrow. I'll do it."

Monique replied, "No problem."

Lily said, without fear or reservation, "I'll do it. I'll spend the night in Potter's dorm. He's not the only one who's good at not getting caught." She had a determined look on her face, resilient and strong.


End file.
